‘But there was something there. I . . .’

Anders and the medtec exchanged looks. Anders reached up to his temple and twirled his forefinger. The universal symbol for loony.

‘You want me to take him back with me to the medpod?’ asked the medtec, picking up his gear.

‘No,’ said Matthew swiftly. ‘It was just a shadow. I know that now.’

Anders stared at him for a moment. The kid’s eyes looked weird. Well, they always did. Weirder than normal, then. His mother’s were the same, they said, and it was unsettling. But Anders’s instinct was always to ignore anything he didn’t understand and drag things back into the realms of the normal. ‘Did you bang your head?’

Matthew pulled himself together and seized on the excuse. ‘No. I banged my elbow, though,’ he said, artistically rubbing his elbow.

‘Can you move it?’ asked the medtec, displaying a professional interest.

‘Oh yes,’ he said. Facing Anders, he clapped one hand on his bicep, clenched his fist and moved his lower arm up and down. Up and down. Up and down. ‘As you can see, everything works just fine.

Anders glared suspiciously, but Matthew had turned his attention back to Ellis and the medtec, who winked at him and went off to organise a stretcher.

‘Isn’t this nice?’ said Matthew to Anders, because he had inherited more from his mother than just her eyes. ‘Now it’s just you and me and all those lost souls denied access to the afterlife.’ He dropped his voice an octave. ‘Doomed to wander the softly sighing desert sands forever. Wreaking bloody revenge on all who cross their path.’

Ellis regarded him from the ground. ‘You do know everyone is much happier when you don’t speak, don’t you?’

‘Mum says that.’

‘Not often I find myself in agreement with your mother.’

‘Dad says that.’

‘Are you going to regale me with tales of your family all night or help me stand up?’

North appeared again, followed by Lt Grint. Matthew was unsurprised to note she was wearing considerably less desert dust than everyone else. She bent over Ellis. ‘Sir, the clean-up crews are here.’

Ellis nodded, and closed his eyes. ‘Casualties?’

‘Minor on our side.’

‘Did we get them all?’

‘We did. Two are dead and those that are left aren’t feeling very well at all.’

She gestured down at the broken crates and all the priceless objects lying among the rocks. ‘We need to put these artefacts back in the tomb as quickly as possible.’

Ellis shook his head and grimaced. ‘No time. The Medjay will be here any moment. Remove the illegals’ crates and anything not contemporary to this time. Leave the rest here. They’ll make sure it’s all replaced and the tomb resealed. Lt Grint, where are Lockland and Parrish?’

‘Securing the tomb.’

‘Who with?’

‘Just those two. I couldn’t spare anyone else.’

‘You left them there alone? Unarmed?’